WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democrat-controlled Senate has defeated a bill to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The Senate's 59-41 vote Tuesday night was a nail-biter to the end.
The bill needed 60 votes to reach the White House. The House passed it overwhelmingly last week.
President Barack Obama did not support the bill, but the White House has been mum on whether or not he will veto it.
Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu pushed for the vote in an effort to save her seat in a Dec. 6 runoff election in Louisiana. She faces an uphill battle against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, who authored the House bill.
All Republicans said publicly they supported the Senate bill, as did several moderate Democrats.

LOS ANGELES — The actress best known for voicing the unseen Mrs. Wolowitz on “The Big Bang Theory” has died.
Carol Ann Susi’s agent, Pam Ellis-Evenas, says the actress died Tuesday in Los Angeles after a brief battle with cancer. She was 62.
The veteran character actress has made numerous guest appearances on TV shows since the 1970s.
On the “The Big Bang Theory,” she wasn’t seen on camera as the mother of Simon Helberg’s character, Howard, but her character’s loud voice with a Brooklyn accent was instantly recognizable.
The executive producers of the CBS sitcom say Susi was a beloved member of the “Big Bang Theory” family, and they praised her “immense talent and comedic timing.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin easily defeats Joe Dorman in the governor’s race. “Serving as Oklahoma’s governor has been the greatest honor of my life,” Fallin said. “I am incredibly humbled and thankful to be given the opportunity for a second term.”

DALLAS — A second Dallas hospital worker who provided care for the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S. has tested positive for the disease, pointing to lapses beyond how one individual may have donned and removed personal protective garb.

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder is resigning after heading the Justice Department for six years.
A White House official says President Barack Obama will announce Holder’s departure later Thursday.
Holder is the first black attorney general, and his tenure is the fourth longest on the job.
He plans to remain at the Justice Department until his successor is in place.

MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) — A former McAlester pastor has been charged with a felony after police say a story about three minors engaging in sexual acts was found in his home.
The McAlester News-Capital reports (http://bit.ly/1pdqfgk ) prosecutors charged 65-year-old Larry Jones on Tuesday with possessing obscene or indecent writings.
Jones is the former pastor at McAlester Missionary Baptist Church. His wife, who has since left him, told police she found a story inside their home about a sexual encounter with three children who attended the church.
An affidavit says Jones' wife also discovered him looking at child pornography about a year and a half ago. She says Jones has disposed of the computer since then.

WASHINGTON — Combined U.S.-Arab airstrikes on the Islamic State group’s military strongholds in Syria achieved their aim of showing the extremists that their savage attacks will not go unanswered, the top American military officer said Tuesday. Separately, the U.S. launched strikes against a group said to be plotting to attack the U.S. and Western interests.
The U.S. and five Arab nations attacked the Islamic State group’s headquarters in eastern Syria in nighttime raids Monday using land- and sea-based U.S. aircraft as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from two Navy ships in the Red Sea and the northern Persian Gulf.

EDINBURGH, Scotland — Scottish voters have resoundingly rejected independence, deciding to remain part of the United Kingdom after a historic referendum that shook the country to its core.
The decision prevented a rupture of a 307-year union with England, bringing a huge sigh of relief to Britain’s economic and political establishment, including Prime Minister David Cameron, who faced calls for his resignation if Scotland had broken away.
The vote on Thursday — 55 percent against independence to 45 percent in favor — saw an unprecedented turnout of just under 85 percent.
“We have chosen unity over division,” Alistair Darling, head of the No campaign, said early Friday in Glasgow. “Today is a momentous